Gas turbine engines typically include a fan delivering air into a compressor. The air is compressed in the compressor and delivered into a combustion section where it is mixed with fuel and ignited. Products of this combustion pass downstream over turbine blades, driving them to rotate. Turbine rotors, in turn, drive the compressor and fan rotors.
The efficiency of the engine is impacted by ensuring that the products of combustion pass in as high a percentage as possible across the turbine blades. Leakage around the blades reduces efficiency.
Thus, a blade outer air seal is provided radially outward of the blades to prevent leakage radially outwardly of the blades. The blade outer air seal may be held radially outboard from the rotating blade via connections on the case or a blade outer air seal support structure. The clearance between the blade outer air seal and a radially outer part of the blade is referred to as a tip clearance.
Since the rotating blade and blade outer air seal may respond radially at different rates due to loads, the tip clearance may be reduced and the blade may rub on the blade outer air seal, which is undesirable. Therefore, there is a need to control the clearance between the blade and the blade outer air seal in order to increase the efficiency of the gas turbine engine.